It’s here! Friday the 13th, Black Lion Friday and the release of chapter 3 of the chronicles ‘The Second Son’.

This album has definitely been the most challenging work I’ve done (musically) to date. At the start of the year, I had no intention of making an album as I just couldn’t find the inspiration for it but then I started getting a few enquiries from fans expecting a release on the next Friday the 13th, so then I started working on some new material towards the end of March.

Come the middle of April when I was hoping to finish the album by, I had about 15 tracks and none of them really moved me so they got scrapped…….so I dug a little deeper and ‘The Second Son’ was born.

One of he biggest challenges with this album was doing it alongside a full-time job and wanting to give it full-time attention. I don’t know how, but I managed to get it done and I am definitely happy with the finished product…….now the real work begins ;-)

You can check out the album below, or click here to go to the album’s page. There’s no price tag on it so you can choose to pay whatever you think it’s worth……(£1 million would be aiight!)

Thank you for checking out my music and I hope you enjoy listening to the album even more than I enjoyed making. Chapter 4 will be with you on the next Friday the 13th which is Jan 2012.

“I Need to Speak now after All the Years I’ve Listened”
It’s been just over a year since his sophomore album release and the emerging artist Blee (The Black Lion of Eternal Excellence) is back again, honouring the day he christened ‘Black Lion Friday’…..Its Friday the 13th and this time he’d like to re-introduce the artist you thought you knew and prepare you for something bigger than he’s ever put out before…His Truth.
With age comes Wisdom and as the Wealth of time passes we must ask for Virtue…

“This is not my profession, This is me living,

This is me everyday, this is me giving,

My thoughts, my soul, over these rhythms,

This is my follow through with my decisions….”

With a different sound not instantly recognised from his previous offerings, Blee has thrown all caution to the wind, adding a new flavour mixed with his unmistakable traditional flow to jump-start all your rhythm buds….He goes from addressing the establishment in the consciously mellow ‘At Eaze’, to showing no fear in the dance hall hyped ‘Barefoot’, unfolding his heart in the beautiful ‘Moments like these’ to causing chaos and raising eyebrows in the provocative ‘What Year is this’.
On his new offering Blee says:

“This album resonates with my spirit even more so than my previous record and represents what my journey in music is all about…..progress.”

Blee has come a long way since his first offerings in Chapter 1 of his Chronicles. The world has taught him much and in turn a conformity to his sound and his vision is growing amongst his fans and his peers, but more importantly and most radically, it’s happening within himself as an artist who truly has something uncommon to say; and for him, rather than embrace the material matter of what has become the industry he has allowed it to become his education in metamorphosis for another unique expression of himself.

“This is my new image. You can expect the unexpected. I feel comfortable with black people lightening their skin. They want a different look. It’s tantamount to white people getting a sun tan.”

Look on the brighter side!!

I know alot of people have been getting themselves in a bit of a frenzy over this but personally, I don’t believe in passing judgement on the choices another human being makes for their own life. Only Kartel is going through life everyday as Kartel, so respect the choices the man makes for his own life….besides the talent is still there right?

Designed and ready to go, the first range of Respect Your Legacy T-shirts are now available to purchase. We have T-Shirts and hoodies for men and women. Click on the image below to go to the store and check out what we have on offer. Also, as nice as I am, you get a FREE copy of the Respect Your Legacy single with every purchase from the RYL store!

Still working my way through Music Success in 9 Weeks and still thoroughly enjoying the challenge. This week provided an education in connecting with fans/supporters in a more effective way.

This should be the most important aspect of any musicians career but it’s funny how we can easily take this task for granted…well at least I sometimes do. Not becaue I don’t appreciate my supporters but I guess I just assume they know without me saying.

Needless to say , I found the information this week invaluable. There are alot of practical, easy to follow steps that are laid out in the book and I have started putting some of that to work.

The biggest step for me is opening up a little more to people. I tend to be all about my music and not taking people any deeper into the workings of my mind, but I realise that no real connection can be made to supporters/potential supporters until I get past this personal hurdle. I’ve been like that for most of my life so it’s gonna take alot for me to make the adjustment but it’s a necessary step on the journey. At the end of the day my music is just an extension of who I am so it should just flow…..

This week provided alot of food for thought on building rapport with supporters and some great ideas I hadn’t thought about to connect with people in general, not just suppoters…….the journey continues..

If you’re an independent artist/musician I can’t recommend Ariel Hyatt’s ‘Music Success in 9 Weeks’ enough. I’ve been working my way through the weeks and at week 5, the book has already far exceeded its cost in value.

Week 5 has inspired me to make some key changes in my career. I will no longer be trying to force myself to get releases out for every Friday the 13th as I previously said I would. It just doesn’t give me enough time to get the music to the level I want it to be and to get the most out of my songs. While I do feel a bit weird breaking a commitment I made, I think it’ll work for the better. Change is good and I welcome this little piece of evolution.

Week 5 introduces you to the world of blogging. Now I’m not new to blogs, I have been featured on a few before, but the book opens you up to how vast this world is and the potential these blogs have to change the direction of your career. I started discovering just how many blogs there are out there and that’s what sparked me to change my perspective on the industry. Music deserves to be heard and there are people out there ready to help you gain exposure.

There are literally thousands of music blogs out there reaching millions of fans and building relationships with a few bloggers could be what you need to help build your career to a sustainable level. Chapter 5 equips you with enough knowledge to get going on this task. Not one that will bring results over night, but seeds definitely worth sewing. The journey continues….

I am loving this book and this challenge more and more as the weeks go by. Music Success in 9 Weeks is definitely helping me to develop my skills in marketing both online and off and building my confidence about achieving success in the music industry.

This week was all about social media, something I recently tried to runaway from but fast realised the benefits of. The book takes it back to basics and really helps to give a good understanding of what social media is and how it can be used effectively to help you gain exposure for your music.

This has been the most enjoyable week for me so far. Setting up profiles has become so easy now that I have my pitch. It’s funny how that request ‘Describe your sound/music’ used to annoy me as I could never quite get it right but now it’s like 2nd nature just rolling off the pitch.

Here are some of my online profiles; be sure to add me if you’re on any of these networks;

I have also discovered a few more social networks that appear to be good but I think I might have enough on my plate as it is. In terms of results, I’m definitely noticing an increase in mailing list sign ups and an increase in website traffic since starting the challenge. The next step now is turning that increased visibility into sales!. Looking forward to week 5.

Week 3 and I’m still pumped up and giving it all I’ve got, well at least all I’ve got after working 9 to 5!

This week has been mainly about adjusting and updating my online presence. Armed with my new, well honed pitch, I updated all (at least I hope all) of my online profiles with the pitch as the main description point. I’ve also ordered some business cards and flyers with the pitch. Having the pitch has definitely made me more confident and energetic with my self promotion.

Admittedly, I haven’t completed all the tasks in week 3 of the book yet and that’s mainly because I’m also trying to complete work on my new album ‘Respect Your Legacy Reloaded’ but I’m determined to get everything up to date by the end of week 4.

Recently I have been slowly waking up to a truth that I have been avoiding for a while but this week has definitely compelled me to revisit week 1 to add another goal to my list……GET AN ASSISTANT!